Drive to get Longbridge car plant museum

A CAMPAIGN for a 'Working Life at Longbridge' museum to remember the Austin, Rover and MG factory is gathering pace.

The hope is the museum will be built on the former car plant site to remember more than 100 years of British manufacturing history, which included some important work during the 1940s war effort.

An online petition has been set up by Mark France calling on Bromsgrove District Council to 'collaborate with its partners to establish a museum dedicated to the many thousands of local people who spent their working lives at the Longbridge Plant, along with the commissioning of public art to commemorate The Austin'.

So far, there are more than 220 names on the petition and, if that reaches 1,250, the issue will be debated by Bromsgrove District Councillors at a meeting of the authority.

Former Rover worker and Longbridge councillor Andy Cartwright said something was definitely needed to remember the history.

"There is no one more passionate about Rover than me.

"But we need all the interested people and organisations, such as MG, the Austin Federation, the Rover Community Action Trust and others, to get around the table and discuss it, deciding exactly what we want.

"There is so much we can put on display, but it needs to be done properly as a long-term and cost-effective project."

For more, or to add your name, search for 'E.petition' on www.bromsgrove.gov.uk.